1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to tracking and controlling television viewing and, in particular but not exclusively, to methods and systems for managing viewing activity for multiple television viewers in a multi-tuner, multi-television environment.
2. Background Information
Lack of control of television viewing, in terms of both the amount of hours spent in front of televisions (“TVs”) and the inappropriateness of content being viewed is an ever-increasing concern for some in today's communities, especially parents and educators. For example, it has been alleged that serious diseases, such as diabetes and obesity, are on the rise partially due to increased numbers of persons spending more time stagnant in front of TVs, computers, and other electronic equipment. In addition, as with most children's activities, parents and educators often strive to create a balance in the types of activities in which their children participate. However, our modern society often demands more employment dedicated time from one or both adults in a household; thus, the availability of adults to supervise their children's viewing of television programs, playing computer games, etc. is potentially decreased.
Different approaches have been offered to address these concerns. These approaches generally fall into two distinct classes with respect to television watching: content restricted access and time limited viewing. Content restriction generally involves a device or software attached to the television that can be programmed to prohibit the viewing of particular content on a particular television. For such a system to operate properly, the person programming the device typically needs to know and be able to describe in advance the particular content to be blocked. However, such a priori knowledge is not always possible or convenient to obtain. In addition, such systems typically operate relative to a particular device. Thus, it is difficult to use such systems in environments with differing or variable needs. For example, if several different viewers operate the same television, their respective viewing capabilities will be controlled by the most restricted individual, unless some kind of sophisticated identification scheme is employed by the system to recognize a particular individual. Different approaches have been suggested or used as identification tools such as: password identification, card keys, magnetic devices, and the like.
A second approach to addressing viewing concerns has been to limit or otherwise restrict the viewing time of individuals. When a person's viewing time has expired or s/he attempts to view the television during a blocked period, according to whatever measuring technique is being used, the television is typically disabled. Again, many of these solutions involve additional hardware and/or software associated with the television device and typically restrict watching on a per location basis (e.g., a particular TV) unless some kind of identification scheme is jointly used. Different measuring techniques have been described in the literature, including restricting by particular times of day (week/month, etc.) and by allocating different amounts of viewing time, such as “n” number of hours per time period (e.g., day/week/month, etc.).
With the advent of new and improved technologies such as set-top boxes and PVRs that allow digital recording and delayed playback of digital broadcasts, the same concerns become greater and the solutions even more complex. In these environments, delayed playback is potentially more difficult to monitor without adding sophisticated detection and control mechanisms to the devices that read the playback from the storage medium.